Mail-crane.



E. TAYLOR.

MAIL CRANE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY2L19I6.

1,219,191 Patented Mar.13,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I E. TAYLOR.

MAIL CRANE. APPLICATION FILED mAY'zz. 191s.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- F TED STATES ATENT 'rrion.

ELLIS TAYLOR, or SANDERSVILLE, MISSISSIPPI, ASsIeNon or ONE-HALF '10 THOMAS A. HOWARD, or SANDERSVILLE, MISSISSIPPI.

MAIL-GRAN E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 13,1917.

Application filed May 27, 1916. Serial No. 100,241.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLIS TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sandersville, in the county of Jones and State of Mississippi, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Cranes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements-in mail cranes, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a device capable of readily taking the mail from fast moving trains.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device from which the train may readily receive the mail without necessarily slowing its speed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mail crane which is so constructed as to remove some of the shock in the contact of the mail sack with the receiving hooks therefor, and to cushion the movement thereof.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a mail crane constructed in accordance with this invention, showing the receiving arms to the left in set position and the receiving arms to the right in inoperative position, i

Fig. 2 is a side view in elevation of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4: is a detail illustrating the method of supporting the mail sack on the train.

Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral 1 designates as an entirety the supporting frame of the device comprising the base bar, 2, which is supported on suitable standards 8; extending upwardly from the bar 2 is a bar 4, which is of equal length and riveted between the bars 2 and 1 is an arm 5, which supports the mail ba to be picked up by the train. The rear en of this rod is extended and has pivotally connected thereto, as at 6, a link 7, which in turn is pivotally connected at 8 to thelink 9, and this link 9 is pivoted between the upper side of the bar 4; and the under side of the bar 10, as at 11.

Pivoted between the bars 4 and 10 is the bag receiving arm- 12, which is pivoted, as at 13, and the rear end of'thisbag receiving arm is apertured, as at 14, .and the flexible member 15 extends through the aperture in the bar 12 and extends to a point slightly in the rear of the forward end of the bar 5.

I The forward end of the bar 12 has secured thereto the hook 16, while the forward end of the bar 5 has pivotally mounted thereon the mail bag holding extension 17, as clearly shown in the drawings.

, Pivotally mounted slightly to the rear of the forward end of the bar 5, is a standard 18, the upper end of which is formed with the forwardly extending arm 19, the outer end of which cooperates with the member 17 in supporting the mail bag, which is to be picked up by the train.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that in use the mail bag to be picked up by the train, is mounted between the extensions 17 of the arm 19 and the mechanism carried by the approaching train will engage the mail bag, thereby causing the extension 17 and arm 19 to swing into the position illustrated in Fig. 3, and simultaneously exert pull on the arm 5 to swing the arm 12 into the position shown. In this way it will be seen that the ,mail bag on the train will be engaged by the hook 16 and swung from its position and supported by said hook, while the mail bag positioned between the extensions 17 and the arm'19 will be picked up by the train carried mechanism.

The train carried mechanism above referred to is best illustrated in Fig. 4:, comprises an upper arm 20, which is supported in any suitable manner near the door of the car, designated by the numeral 21, and the lower arm is designated by the numeral 22, and this arm is hinged, as at 23, to the side of the car immediately beneath the arm 20. Both of these arms are provided with the pivoted extensions 24, which are designed to support the mail bag 25 in such position as to be engaged by the mechanism previously referred to. The pick-up mechanism for the train is constructed in the manner similar to the mechanism described in the foregoing, and it will thus be seen that the train may also receive as well as deliver mail.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as will fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. A maii bag crane comprising a support, a delivering arm pivoted to said support, an extension on the delivering arm, a standard on the delivering arm, an arm on the standard cooperating with the extension supporting a mailbag, both the standard and the extension being pivoted, a receiving arm pivoted to the support, and normally positioned above the delivering arm, and a flexible connection between the receiving and delivering arms, whereby when one moves outwardly, the opposite arm will move in the opposite direction. 1

2. A mail bag receiving and delivering mechanism comprising a support, said support being formed of two parallel bars of equal length, a delivering arm pivoted between the bars, links connected to the delivering arm and to one of the bars, a receiving arm pivoted to the upper side of the upper bar, a top bar secured on top of the link, and a flexible connection between the delivering and receiving bars.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELLIS TAYLOR. Witnesses:

A. E. SMITH, V1 M. HARDEE.

Qepies of this patent my be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

- Washington, D. G. 

